1 926 THE OWLS 



darker color of the upper surface, the American variety is distinguished by the 

 broader and redder bars on the breast, and the smaller size of the white gorget. In 

 habits the hawk owl is strictly diurnal, hawking its prey in the bright sunshine. It 

 is an inhabitant of the subalpine districts of Norway, sometimes reaching as high 

 as the zone of birch trees, although its true home is the fir woods. Frequently it 

 may be seen sitting in the full sunlight on some bare tree, surrounded by a mob of 

 small birds; these the owl generally disregards, although at times it makes a sudden 

 swoop on one of its tormentors. At the times when lemmings are migrating, hawk 

 owls make their appearance in great numbers to prey upon the rodent hosts. The 

 nesting place is usually upon the broken top of some dead tree, the eggs (five to 

 eight in number) being laid either on the bare rotten wood, or upon a thin layer of 

 dried grass. The female commences to sit from the laying of the first egg. Never 

 shy, in the breeding season this owl is bold in the extreme. When the nest is 

 approached, the bird rapidly raises its head and tail in a series of jerks, after the 

 manner of a cuckoo, and then suddenly dashes at the intruder. Writing of the 

 habits of this species in Lapland, Mr. Wolley, in a letter to Professor Newton, ob- 

 serves that the " hawk owl flies much in the daytime; and, with its long tail, short, 

 sharp wings, and quick flight, has a very hawk-like appearance in the air, when its 

 large square head is not seen. It carries itself much after the fashion of the more 

 regular owls, but while all the feathers at the back give a great breadth to its full 

 face, there is quite a table at the top of its head. It casts its bright yellow eyes 

 downward with the true air of half-puzzled wisdom, or turns its head round for a 

 leisurely gaze in another direction; to glance backward is out of the question, and 

 to look at anyone with a single eye is much beneath its dignity." 



The chief food of this owl consists of lemmings, voles, mice, and birds. The 

 breeding season apparently commences in the middle of April and continues till the 

 end of June; and, as the eggs are laid at intervals, some may frequently be found 

 far on in the latter month. In America the hawk owl probably breeds only in the 

 fur country and the wooded districts of Alaska. It is there very destructive to 

 ptarmigan, as it is in the Old World to willow grouse. In America the number of 

 eggs laid varies from three to seven. Mr. R. MacFarlane states that on the Ander- 

 son river "four nests of this species were discovered, and the eggs taken there- 

 from. All of them were built in pine trees at a considerable height from the 

 ground. One was actually placed on the topmost boughs, and, like the others, con- 

 structed of small twigs and sticks, and lined with hay and moss." 



Conspicuous for its snowy plumes generally more or less 

 mottled with black the great snowy owl (Nydea scandiaca) cannot 

 be confounded with any other member of the order, being the only representative 

 of its genus. As a genus the snowy owl is distinguished from the preceding by 

 the shortness of the tail, which is only about the length of the wing, and also 

 by the under tail coverts being produced nearly to the tip of the tail. Moreover, 

 there are slight rudiments of ear tufts. The plumage of the adult bird may vary 

 from pure white to white largely spotted with black; when present, the dark 

 markings are placed near the tips of the feathers, and while those on the 

 under parts are crescentic, those above approach a linear form. Although the 



